Possibility of household electric power to strong?

[metallicarocks]

I seem to be losing a lot of appliances in my new apartment. My DVD fried out, my stereo just barely fried out, and a few other things. It doesn't happen often, just a lot more than over at my other place. It could just be my ongoing cycle of bad luck as of lately. Is it possible that the power in the house is wired incorrectly? If so, is there a way to test it? I'm scared for my gear!

Any replies or tips are greatly appreciated.

[Accept2]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to strong?

If youre scared for your gear, get a Furman power conditioner. They are totally cheap, and well worth it............As far as wiring, I used to live in a place with aluminum wiring, and I had all kinds of problems. Might want to check out how it is wired..............

[Emthrax]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to strong?

Yeah, if you're losing electronics like that then it probably is. Every military housing I've lived in (which is sub-human, btw) was like this.
You could go to the Home Depot and buy an outlet tester. Then if there's something wrong call up the apt. owners (if you're not the owner) and get them to call an electrician to come out.
Goodluck!

[metallicarocks]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

How much do outlet testers generally run? ($) I don't know if there's something wrong or just my bad luck, so buying a conditioner instead of a rabbit's foot might not be the solution.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

My rental house next door developed a bad ground on the main wires coming into the house, and the grounds going into the ground at the breaker box were insufficient. Out of nowhere, it started frying the guys electronic stuff. I checked the voltage and it would swing from like 60 volts to 180 volts around different parts of the house. Weird shit would happen like the fridge door would get opened and lights would come on dim in another room. Like it was backfeeding grounds or power somehow.

The Electric Co came and fixed their ground and all was well. Might be worth having them check stuff out.

[horns666]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

My wife uses a Variac with her electric vibrator..

she drops it down to about 90 volts...it gives it a nice brown sound..

[Ozz666]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

[ QUOTE ]
My wife uses a Variac with her electric vibrator..

she drops it down to about 90 volts...it gives it a nice brown sound..

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

If you're worried about your gear I'd invest in a line voltage regulator from Furman instead of just the conditioner....

[metallicarocks]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

[ QUOTE ]
If you're worried about your gear I'd invest in a line voltage regulator from Furman instead of just the conditioner....

[/ QUOTE ]
I thought that's what the conditioner did. In that case, do I need to get both of these? I want to get a Mesa amplifier in the future, and fuck if I'm going to plug it in here!

[pro-fusion]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

Jeezus, I'd worry more about a house fire than about my gear in a situation like that. Get that looked at *immediately*.

[Ozz666]

Re: Possibility of electric power to str

Nope...a conditioner is crap compared to a line voltage regulator. The conditioner will only stop spikes and surges, while a Furman regulator will protect from spikes and surges like a conditioner, but will also regulate the incoming voltage to 117V for all your gear and also has built in protection if the voltage ever reaches a dangerous level or drops below a certain level, it will shut down your equipment before it's ruined. It's also fused too.

- Joel

[Evol]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

[ QUOTE ]
My wife uses a Variac with her electric vibrator..

she drops it down to about 90 volts...it gives it a nice brown sound..

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] The infamous backdoor brown sound? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

Yeah, most equipment can take somewhat of a spike, but as voltage gets down to <80 volts, stuff starts drawing more amperage and burns up parts inside it.

I used to use a light dimmer on a cheap stereo to display what that was about to customers I would sell UPS systems to. As I'd lower the voltage, it would eventually start blowing fuses etc... It was a nice visual aid. Sold a lot of UPS systems that way, haha...

[finnman]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

Everyone should have one of these in there tool box.
Take it with you when playing in clubs ,just to make sure.
http://www.electrical-contractor.net...ni_Testers.htm

[metallicarocks]

Re: Possibility of household electric power to str

Uh, my lightbulbs are starting to blow out, FAST. All of them have been here over a year, but suddenly they are all blowing out. This house is old, but whatever the hell is going on, it must be recent. We're losing shit left and right suddenly. I've unplugged all of my gear until we figure out what the hell is going on. My luck is bad, but Jesus!

We're kind of sitting ducks until we get an electrician, which may be a while. I hope to get a hold of the landlord soon (she's on the truck). I just wish we could be reimbursed on the shit we've lost so far...

Thanks for the replies, good to know what I'm up against.

Thanks again all!